Tangles
by kanshu
Summary: It turns out it's harder to brush hair than Levy expects.


Her eyes fluttered open to find the soft morning light stream through her thin white curtains. She let out a small sigh before twisting and stretching her limbs. The loud snores coming from behind her made her twist her neck around to see the other side of the bed, where Gajeel slept. His back rose and fell slowly and at a peaceful tempo, in time with his loud sleep noises. His large mesh of black hair was sprawled behind him in all directions, and Levy reached out to stroke it. It was stiff to the touch, and rough on her soft skin. She frowned. Her hand traveled up his back, and she spread her fingers in the strands, trying to comb out the tangles. It proved useless, as her hand couldn't make it down two inches without being caught by massive knots. She huffed in frustration. After a moment she hopped out of bed in search of a brush.

* * *

><p>When he woke Gajeel didn't open his eyes. He only used his hands to skim the bed, trying to locate the body of his girlfriend. When his hands could not find her small frame, he slowly peeked out of his eyelids. But the sun assaulted his face, and he cursed, guarding himself with his hand. He turned over and looked around the room. As far as he could tell, she left.<p>

He groaned and got up from the bed, shuffling towards the door. As he reached for the handle, the door swung into his face. Levy appeared behind it, and when she spotted him, she squeaked in surprise and her voice dropped to a whisper.

"Did I wake you up?"

"Nah." Gajeel scratched his head, his fingers also getting caught by the bird's nest he called his hair. Her hands were behind her back and she smiled up at him.

"Go sit on the bed." As Levy spoke, her finger pointed to the bed. Gajeel raised an eyebrow, but complied. He sat on the bed with his legs crossed and his head in hands. Levy brought a brush from behind her back, and walked towards the bed with purpose.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Gajeel watched with a careful gaze, and he inched back when she took a step froward.

"What does it look like? I'm gonna brush your hair!" Levy sat on the bed behind him, but Gajeel moved his head every time she came near it with the brush.

"Gajeel!" Levy whined her at her partner, beating his back with her tiny fists.

"I don't want you ripping out my scalp." Gajeel crossed his arms and waited for her to stop.

"What? I brush my own hair all the time!" She said stubbornly. Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"Yeah and your hair is what, one inch long?" Gajeel retorted.

"Please Gajeel?" Levy made her lip quiver and her eyes widen. Gajeel's body tightened and he knew he couldn't say no.

"Make it quick." Gajeel huffed in annoyance and surrendered his mane to her care.

* * *

><p>Levy tackled his ends with strong brisk strokes, which was easy enough at first. Her brush went higher into the body of his hair, and she felt her brush stop abruptly. She tugged on it, trying to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge. She pulled with all the muscle her tiny body contained, which really wasn't that much. She heard a loud crack, and her face drained of its color.<p>

"My brush!" Levy shrieked as she held the handle in her hands, astonished.

"What the hell was that?" Gajeel moved his head around, trying to look behind him. Levy held it in place.

"I may or may not have ...broken my brush in your hair." Levy was devastated. Her trusty brush couldn't even withstand her partner's knotted net of hair.

"Well I hate to say I told you so, but..." She could practically hear the grin in his words. Levy scowled at his back, and at his hair.

"The head of it is still stuck!"

"Here." Gajeel reached around and fumbled through his hair, trying to locate the head of the brush. Levy grabbed his hand and placed it over the back of the brush. She was sure he wouldn't get it out. Gajeel gripped the brush and gave it a small tug. It came out like it had never been there. No mass of black hair, just the brush head.

"How?!" Levy wailed at her smirking dragon slayer.

"You have the upper body strength of a twelve-year-old, shrimp." Levy scowled at him and stuck her tongue out. Wrong move. Gajeel pinched the pink muscle between his fingers and Levy bit down on his fingers roughly. Gajeel yelled out in surprise and jerked his fingers away, holding on to the throbbing bite marks. Quickly he took back the head of the brush and took his hair roughly into his hands, brushing the triple knots out of his hair with only a few pulls. Once he finished he let it down. The late morning sunlight reflected off of it and gave it a slight shine. Levy sat, slacked jawed. Gajeel flopped on the bed, face down in the pillow.

"There." Gajeel's voice was muffled through the fabric, but Levy heard him. The girl grinned as she crawled onto his back, and twirled his silky strands through her fingers, braiding and un-braiding. Soon levy could hear not-so-soft snores from the pillow, and she moved his hair out of the way, snuggled her face into the crook of his neck, and fell asleep.


End file.
